Not sure why, but I keep thinking about how numbness is one of our greatest spiritual problems and dangers. Numbness to the sin in our own lives. Numbness to the needs of others. Numbness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. The end result? We lose all spiritual feeling. We can't feel the presence or prompting of the Holy Spirit.
In a sense, we're all lepers. We lose our sense of touch. That numbness, physically and spiritually, results in a tremendous amount of self-inflicted injuries. I think what many of us desperately need is simply a heightened sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. But here's the catch. We want to hear His guiding, counseling, comforting voice. But we don't want to hear the convicting voice. And it doesn't work that way. Either you listen to everything the Holy Spirit has to say or you won't hear anything He has to say!
So how do we get back our spiritual sensitivity? There are lots of way. But it starts with giving our hearts to Christ because that is how Christ gives His heart to us. Our hearts start to break for the things that break the heart of God. But then you need to stay in prayer and stay in the Word. There are no substitutes. That is how to hear what He has to say. That is how you feel what He feels.
What am I getting at? I pray that you would feel pain. Lepers long for that sensation. Why? Because it's evidence that we feel. May you feel the way your sin pains God. May you feel the pain of those who are suffering. May you feel the pain of loving the lost.
One last thought. Numbness is a symptom of a deeper issue: the lack of blood flow. When the blood stops circulating we lose feeling in those parts of the body. May the precious blood of Christ surge through our veins. He is the one who gives us all spiritual sensitivity. Without Him we are lost and numb.
In a sense, we're all lepers. We lose our sense of touch. That numbness, physically and spiritually, results in a tremendous amount of self-inflicted injuries. I think what many of us desperately need is simply a heightened sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. But here's the catch. We want to hear His guiding, counseling, comforting voice. But we don't want to hear the convicting voice. And it doesn't work that way. Either you listen to everything the Holy Spirit has to say or you won't hear anything He has to say!
So how do we get back our spiritual sensitivity? There are lots of way. But it starts with giving our hearts to Christ because that is how Christ gives His heart to us. Our hearts start to break for the things that break the heart of God. But then you need to stay in prayer and stay in the Word. There are no substitutes. That is how to hear what He has to say. That is how you feel what He feels.
What am I getting at? I pray that you would feel pain. Lepers long for that sensation. Why? Because it's evidence that we feel. May you feel the way your sin pains God. May you feel the pain of those who are suffering. May you feel the pain of loving the lost.
One last thought. Numbness is a symptom of a deeper issue: the lack of blood flow. When the blood stops circulating we lose feeling in those parts of the body. May the precious blood of Christ surge through our veins. He is the one who gives us all spiritual sensitivity. Without Him we are lost and numb.
7 Comments:
That's a real good word...got me thinking...
A favorite lesson of mine is 2 Kings 7, when the Arameans are besieging Jerusalem. Outside the city were four lepers. When God caused the Arameans to flee, they began to loot their camp. But they stopped and said, "What we're doing isn't right. This is a day of good news, and we aren't sharing it with anyone." So they go back to tell the people in the city what God has done. I've always read that story missionally -- we are the lepers: having stumbled onto treasure through no merit of our own, we should share it with a hungry city -- but your observation about us being lepers through spiritual numbness gives it additional clarity. Thanks!
That is real good. Too many times we think of ourselves as healthy when instead we are dead to the fact that we are in pain. We can't feel for what the Lord feels for. We lose sight of what He sees.
Good word Mark!!!
wow - this is just spot on and so what I needed today - thank you for this good word.
Food for thought -- exactly what I needed to hear today! Thanks Pastor Mark for challenging me with what God wants me to be more conscious of daily.
Great thought. I've been telling myself for years, "Leprosy or Love."
Awesome reflection! Thank you!
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